The figure speaks for itself. According to the latest YouGov survey, Prince Andrew is the member of the royal family with the fewest positive opinions among the British: only 14%. The Duke of York comes last in the ranking, far behind Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – who still peaks at 23% –, or the Duke and Duchess of Kent, 89 and 91 years old, who hover around 40% opinions favorable.
The consequence of years of scandals and affairs. Suffice to say that the upcoming arrival of a fifth grandson or granddaughter is the best news that Prince Andrew has received in a long time. Her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, will give birth at the beginning of 2025 to her second child with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Already mother of little Sienna, 3 years old, and mother-in-law of Wolfie, eight years old, her husband's eldest son, Beatrice will give another cousin to Ernest and August, the sons of her sister Eugenie. And will offer new happiness to those who take their role as grandfather very seriously.
Grandfather and riding instructor
“Worried, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie take turns to spend the weekends with their father, and take their children to cheer him up” revealed the English magazine a few days ago Hello. “They are very close to him, and above all very protective.” For the past few weeks, Andrew has even been playing instructor for Sienna in her discovery of horse riding. Learning to ride from a young age is a tradition among the Windsors, and horse riding remains one of the Duke of York's last hobbies now that he rarely leaves Windsor Great Park.
Since November 1, 2024, Andrew has in fact covered his own security costs, which his brother the king has decided to no longer cover. So he spends most of his time around his residence at Royal Lodge, at the foot of Windsor Castle. Alternates between rounds of golf, horseback riding and long walks with his ex-wife Sarah and their dogs. The happily divorced couple lives with five Norlfolk terriers, and of course Muick and Sandy, the two corgis inherited from Elizabeth II.
To change their father's mind, Hello also reveals that his daughters recently organized hunts on the Windsor estate, to which they invited friends. The princesses of York are doing everything they can to help Andrew cope better with the isolation he has found himself in since the disastrous interview on the show aired five years ago Newsnight who signed his withdrawal from public life. If his roommate Fergie never stops carrying out projects and trips to promote his commitments or his publications, Andrew no longer has a professional life, or even a charitable one, and almost no social life either. Isolated, he lives almost a recluse, clinging with all his strength to the former residence of Queen Mum from which Charles III seeks in vain to dislodge him.
Family Christmas… in Sandringham but not London
If her daughters juggle their careers – and those of their husbands, who take Eugenie to Portugal for part of the year –, their charitable commitments and their role as mothers, they also take care, despite their support of their father, to maintain good relations with the rest of the royal family. Without being active members in the service of the Crown, Beatrice and Eugenie regularly support their uncle Charles and their cousin William during public events such as the garden parties summer, the Ascot races in spring or the now traditional Christmas concert organized each year by the Princess of Wales. It is a safe bet that this year again the princesses of York will be at Westminster Abbey on December 6 to surround Kate during the fourth edition of Together at Chrismas. Prince Andrew never appeared there.
However, we should see him again in public with the rest of the royal family on Christmas morning, on the way to church on the Sandringham estate. The press across the Channel ensures that Andrew and Fergie are invited, like last year, to join the family festivities. A truce for confectioners which, however, will remain short-lived.
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